


Can We Stay Like This A Little Longer, Please

by twentyfourshreds



Series: Let Them Rest [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Multi, Sleepy Cuddles, Troll Anatomy (Homestuck), i was just really feeling the boys, im sorry Jade isn't there, lowkey godtier power headcanon, these boys just need sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26093785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twentyfourshreds/pseuds/twentyfourshreds
Summary: There's time in relationships, where, not sadness prompts moments like these, but something else, memories, perhaps.They feel the pull of the past but leave it standing where it must-- too lost in the present to let themselves fall into the habit.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Series: Let Them Rest [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894525
Kudos: 33





	Can We Stay Like This A Little Longer, Please

**Author's Note:**

> A series? From yours truly? Shock is to be expected, yes, but my aversion to commitment was flattened under these powerful sleepy feelings at that time.

Soft mews whispered from the DS in Dave's hands, hunched over the screen, he stared intently at the little furry animals he was taking care of.

“Hey, drink your fucking formula, I'm not joking kid you're gonna need it. See? It wasn't so hard, was it?” The stylus clicked over the screen softly as he sat on the bed, fan softly ruffling the loose t-shirt he had on. Outside, the sun-baked the trees, leaving the dappled sunlight to stream in through the window.

Jade was off exploring the woods again, Karkat was somewhere in the yard or house doing whatever Karkat did on days like this. It was a relaxed day, nothing to run around and fix, or find out, or prevent. He heard the soft opening and closing of a door above him; it seemed like it was Karkat’s computer room. Dave peered up over the brims of his shades at the ceiling for just a moment. His attention was brought back to his DS, and he plugged his headphones into the audio jack of his phone. One hand gently navigating its way around his home screen to his music, the other skillfully clearing the build-up by a kitten’s eyes with his stylus. He settled into the wall and continued his efforts.

A long time passed, and Dave finally finished his duties for the game. He popped the card out, reached for his plastic bag full of cartridges and cards, rooted around, and pulled out some Japanese cooking game. He popped it into the slot and started up the game. He got lost in the timed actions, making dish after dish, striving for a gold medal each time. If he didn’t move his stylus in time-

“Alright, alright fuck you too, I’m a cucumber slicing god you have nothing on me.” He grumbled softly as the figure on the screen exaggerated its syntax anger.

Dave heard someone knocking on the bedroom door. He called out, “Yeah, come in.”

He paused his game and looked up as he took off his headphones. Karkat walked into the room, a determined look in his eyes.

“You good Karkat?” Dave asked, setting the DS to the side and scooching over to the end of the bed so Karkat could sit.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Karkat replied, crawling up onto the bed and leaning his head against Dave’s shoulder. He hummed in reply.

Karkat shifted closer as he hugged Dave around the middle. Dave gently wrapped his arm around Karkat's shoulders; the corners of his mouth pulling up slightly.

“Cuddly today?” Dave chuckled.

“No,” he mumbled into Dave's chest, arms tightening in contradiction. He could feel Dave's heartbeat through his ribs, the scent of the laundry detergent still lingering on the fabric, and the slow rise and fall of Dave's torso as air filled his lungs and his body pushed it out. 

Dave’s hand ghosted over his shoulder, gently cupping the back of Karkat's head, fingers mindlessly scratching. He could feel Karkat's muscles shifting as he hugged Dave, his powerful arms wrapped around his waist, and the feeling of his coarse hair between his fingers.

Karkat sighed into Dave's shirt, squeezing him tighter.

“I missed you.” He murmured, craning his neck to look up at Dave.

“Miss me? You'd only been gone three hours thirty-seven minutes and seventeen seconds.” Dave retorted, looking down at Karkat.

“Yeah, and I missed you,” Karkat replied. “Doesn't make much fucking sense, but it happened.”

Dave chuckled and pushed his phone and DS out of the way for his legs. Karkat clung to him, and as Dave settled down against the wall, he leaned up and hugged him around the middle once more.

They stayed like that for a while. Neither of them talked-- both too scared to break the arcadian blanket they were bathed in. The fan whirring by the window, the distant, muffled noise of Dave's music drifting from his headphones, and their short slow breaths were the only symphony they heard. The soft glow of the sun through the trees outside filtered in through the blinds, the hall light bleeding in the open door, Jade's lamp was still on from this morning. Dave could smell his flowery shampoo in Karkat's hair-- pink orchid and grapefruit. He looked over Karkat's body, seeing for the first time in a long time how young they really were, how they had lived through all of the mess they had gone through, and how they were now, happy, simple, and loving.

His breath suddenly stuttered, catching with emotion, and Karkat stirred, his hand twitching against Dave’s side. Dave took a deep breath and settled back down against the wall. Once again, it was serene.

Karkat felt something fiery bubble up in his chest, a desire, hidden underneath his insistence to keep how everything as it was. He ignored it. They had all the time they wanted. Something like that could wait, he just missed Dave. He longed for his warmth, his awkward, lanky limbs, his long, gentle fingers delicately holding him close, and most of all, his presence. The thing that told Karkat that everything was okay. The reason they were even here with each other in the first place. They were best friends, and what’s better than forming a different kind of bond with your best friend. Nothing’s better than that, nothing. Karkat’s mind repeated this as he and Dave dozed. 

He loved how Dave’s hand slipped from his hair as he relaxed, how his breathing was even, his heart beating in steady _ba-pa-pa-dum_. Karkat smiled internally, remembering the few conversations he’d had with Dave and Rose about the sound of the human heart in troll ears versus human ears. When Dave heard his heartbeat for the first time, Karkat remembered how he had to pry Dave off of him as he clutched his thorax to his ears. Troll hearing was used to the _ba-ba-pa-pa-dum-dum_ of their own hearts-- and so Karkat learned that the humans could only hear the _ba-dum_ of heartbeats in their bodies. He found it entertaining that Dave was equally horrified and amazed at his six-valved blood pusher.

He remembered that days afterwards Dave would just curl up by Karkat’s left side as they sat on that tired red couch, laying his head on his shoulder, and listening for the sound of his alien heart. Karkat liked it when stuff like that happened. It gave him a reason to be closer to Dave, not like he really needed any, but the thought of one put him at ease--

Karkat caught himself before his thoughts could run any more. Once again, he focused on Dave’s breathing, the sound of the fan, the distant whisper of music from Dave’s headphones.

He could feel himself straddling the lines between dozing and waking. He took a long, slow breath in and exhaled, shifting to an even more comfortable position and soon found the world dissolving into a warm, pleasant sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
